Béchamel sauce and Cannelloni

7 April 2011

Béchamel sauce

Milk     1 L

Butter   100 g

Flour    100 g

1 clove studded onion

Pinch of salt

Pinch of white pepper

Method

Melt the butter in a thick-bottomed sauté pan. Add the flour and mix in. Cook for a few minutes over a gentle heat without coloring. Remove from the heat to cool the roux. Gradually add the warmed milk and stir until smooth. Add the studded onion with cloves. Allow simmering until sauce reach nape stage. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the onion; pass sauce through a double mesh sieve. Covers with cling film allow it to touch the top of the sauce to prevent a skin forming.

Chef’s tips

Nape stage is using the back of a spoon to test the consistency of the sauce. The sauce must run off the back of the spoon easily leaving only a thin layer on the back of the spoon.

Cannelloni

1 Portion

4 Cannelloni shells

120 g cooked mince

200 ml Fond Blanc

Method of cooking

Fill a piping bag with cooked mince. Pipe the mince into the cannelloni shells by place the shells straight up making sure that the bottom is closed. Put the filled shells into a deep baking dish. Pour the fond Blanc over the filled shells in the baking dish making sure to separate the shells so that they do not touch one another. Bake the shells until they are soft to the touch and do not have a rubbery feel.

Chef’s tips

Add a teaspoon of oil to the stock, which will help prevent the shells from sticking to one another. You can also use any old cooked mince. You don’t need to use a piping bag you can spoon the mince into the shells using a teaspoon.